U.S. Table Tennis Team Defeats China to Win Gold Medal?

As the 2024 Olympics unfold in Paris, a lively news item has spread on social media claiming that the American table tennis team, whose members have Chinese-looking faces, defeated the Chinese national team to win a gold medal. This information has been widely circulated in recent days. However, we have found this claim to be incorrect.

SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM

A photo of the U.S. table tennis team has been posted on social media with a caption claiming that the team, which appears to have Chinese-looking members, defeated the Chinese table tennis team to win the gold medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Photos with these claims have been widely shared on social media, including by Cambodian users who have posted and shared them extensively.

The following image is from a social media post on August 3, 2024, which states, “Table tennis or ping pong has traditionally been a Chinese stronghold, but this U.S. team has defeated China to win the gold medal.”

Facebook Post | Archived

Below is a snapshot from another Facebook page’s post on August 3, 2024: "This is a group of American women who won gold medals in table tennis, defeating the Chinese-American women’s team.”

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Below is a snapshot from a social media post by another Facebook user on August 7, 2024, which reads, “The gold-winning USA table tennis team that beat China. The American women’s ping pong team won the gold medal after defeating the Chinese women’s national team.”

Facebook Post | Archived Link

In addition to being shared by Cambodian social media users, the same information was also posted on Facebook by users in other countries.

Below is a snapshot from a Facebook post on August 3, 2024, describing ‘The gold-winning USA table tennis team that beat China.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

The same information has also been posted on other social networks, such as X (formerly Twitter) and Threads, another Meta platform.

Below is a snapshot from a post on X (formerly Twitter) on August 3, 2024, describing “The gold-winning USA table tennis team that beat China at the Olympics.”

X Tweet | Archived Link

Below is a snapshot from a Threads post on August 4, 2024, with the caption, “Check out the USA table tennis team that clinched the gold by beating China”

Threads Post | Archived Link

FACT CHECK

Fact Crescendo Cambodia reviewed and verified this video using Google Reverse Image Search and cross-checked the results of the 2024 Paris Olympics in table tennis, leading us to the following findings.

Through Google Reverse Image Search, we discovered that this photo is actually of a U.S. tennis player who participated in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.

The members of the U.S. women's table tennis team include veteran Lily Zhang, 28, along with the younger talents Rachel Sung, 20, and Amy Wang, 21.

According to online records, Lily Zhang is an American athlete born in Redwood, California, to a Chinese-American family. Her father is a mathematics professor at Stanford University, and her mother is a table tennis player who competed for Xi’an province, China.

Rachel Sung, born in San Jose, California, is of Taiwanese-Chinese descent, while Amy Wang, from Sewell, New Jersey, is of Chinese descent.

Below is a photo of the U.S. women’s table tennis team, posted on the official U.S. Table Tennis Team Facebook page.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Did the U.S. women’s national table tennis team defeat the Chinese women’s national team?

As of 5 PM on August 9, 2024, the United States remains at the top of the medal tally at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. The American team has won a total of 103 medals, including 30 gold, 38 silver, and 35 bronze.

China is in second place behind the United States with a total of 73 medals, including 29 gold, 25 silver, and 19 bronze.

Olympic Paris 2024 | Archived Link

However, the U.S. women’s table tennis team did not win any medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Below is a snapshot from the internet on August 9, 2024, showing the medal table for the American team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It highlights that the United States did not win a single medal in table tennis.

The U.S. women’s table tennis team was unable to advance to the next round to compete for medals after losing to the German women’s national team in the first round on August 6, 2024.

USTT.ORG | Archived Link

Overall, the U.S. women’s table tennis team did not compete against the Chinese women’s team at the Olympics.

In the first round (Round of 16), the Chinese women’s team faced the Egyptian women’s team, defeating them 3-0 to advance to the next round.”

Olympic Paris 2024

The Chinese women’s team will compete for the gold medal against the Japanese women’s team on August 10, 2024, after defeating the Taiwanese team in the quarterfinals and the South Korean team in the semifinals. Stay tuned for updates.

Below is a photo from the Olympic website showing the date of the match between the Chinese and Japanese table tennis teams for the gold medal. Meanwhile, the South Korean and German national teams will compete for the bronze medal.

Olympic Paris 2024 | Archived Link

Olympic website records show that the U.S. women’s table tennis team has never won a medal at the Olympics, but they have set some new records in the past.

Olympic Paris 2024 | Archived Link

The women’s table tennis event at the 2024 Olympics has gained popularity due to the presence of athletes representing countries of Chinese or East Asian descent.

Ni Xia Lian, 61, commonly known as ‘Auntie Ni,’ won two gold medals at the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships in Germany.

At the 2024 Olympics, she represented Luxembourg. Originally from Shanghai, China, she moved to Germany in the 1980s to study and eventually settled there permanently.” (Source)

Zeng Zhiying, aged 58, participated in table tennis at the Paris Olympics this year, representing Chile. Previously, she was unable to represent China at the 1984 Olympics. (Source)

Similarly, the German national table tennis team includes two members of Chinese descent.

Wan Yuan, a 27-year-old born in Germany, is the son of four-time Chinese table tennis champion Wan Guohui. (Source)

Shan Xiaona, 41, was born in China and relocated to Germany in 2005. (Source)

China has consistently dominated six sports on the global stage: table tennis, shooting, diving, badminton, gymnastics, and weightlifting. (Source)

CONCLUSION

Fact Crescendo Cambodia determined that the claim about the US women’s tennis team defeating the Chinese women’s national team was false. The US team has been eliminated from the 2024 Olympics after losing to Germany. Meanwhile, the Chinese women’s tennis team is advancing to the gold medal final against Japan.